Ukrainian drones have once again hit the Dubna Space Communications Center in Moscow Oblast. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the facility was used to conduct reconnaissance over Ukrainian territory and coordinate strikes against it.
The Dubna Center Hit Again
On the morning of June 30, it became known that Ukraine’s Defense Forces had once again struck the Dubna Space Communications Center. It is located in Moscow Oblast, more than 500 km from the Ukrainian border. The consequences of the attack are currently unknown, but the fact that the facility was hit has already been confirmed by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to a report by Liga.net.
The Ukrainian president stated that the Dubna center was used to carry out reconnaissance over Ukrainian territory and coordinate strikes against it. Evidently, this refers to data exchange with optical observation and communications satellites, which was conducted through the antennas of this center.
According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s Armed Forces have already struck four such centers in total. This is part of a broader plan to reduce Russia’s ability to launch attacks on Ukrainian territory. In other words, this is about which side can first deprive the other of the ability to strike far and hard.
A Second Strike
What is particularly interesting is that this is already the second strike on the Dubna Space Communications Center. Last week, more precisely on June 22, Ukrainian drones had already attacked it, and the facility caught fire. However, it appears that not all of the antennas were destroyed at that time, so the attack had to be repeated.
For now, the exact result of the latest strike remains unknown, as does the true importance of the center itself. In general, the facility was not secret. It was built back in 1980 and, from the outset, specialized in Russia’s communications with the outside world — primarily civilian communications. However, this also meant that, compared with other centers based on older Soviet defense technologies, its equipment incorporated a considerable amount of Western technology.
It is therefore entirely logical that Russia’s most modern dual-use satellites could have been controlled from this center. It is possible that the facility had been a target for the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the very beginning of the war — but earlier, Ukraine simply did not have the means to reach it.
